


Shopping, S'Mores, and Super Emily

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Thicker than Water [75]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, Friendship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-05
Updated: 2012-11-05
Packaged: 2017-11-18 00:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/554825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn’t always supposed to be easy but at least it was an adventure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shopping, S'Mores, and Super Emily

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written in the Thicker than Water universe where the BAU are kids and teens. This is kind of like two stories in one but I wrote it the way it happened in my head.

“JJ!” Emily called up the stairs just as Spencer was running down. “JJ!”

“I'm coming!”

Jason covered his ears but Emily ignored him. Yes, they had a rule about excessive noise in the house. All the kids did their best to respect it but kids were kids. Emily knew leading by example was important but she was in a hurry.

“What’s up?” JJ came down to the middle of the stairs.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” she asked.

“My costume is all but complete. If you see a red and black flannel shirt though, pick it up for me.”

“I will. Did you write down what you wanted on the Fuddruckers list?”

“Yep.” JJ nodded. “Oh, and I need a roll of film. I just need one. Is that OK?”

“It’s fine.” Emily replied.

“I gotta go and finish my social studies homework.”

“I’ll check it when I get back.” Jason said. “C'mon guys, let’s get in the car.”

“I’ll be right out.” Emily said.

Jason, Penelope, Spencer, and Ashley left the house but Emily headed for the kitchen. Morgan was in there getting himself some juice.

“Morgan?”

“Yeah?”

“You're not going to get a costume this year?” she asked.

Emily knew that he wasn’t a big fan of Halloween but he’d dress up for a bit of trick of treating with the munchkins. He also wore a costume for the party at the Boys and Girls Club last year. Still, it was a holiday that Morgan could do without. He always said monsters didn’t need to wear masks. He hated masks. So he did his best to make it just another day. It happened to be a day with candy, and unfortunately masks.

“I'm staying in this year.” Derek said. “I’ll give out the candy if you guys want. Tina and I are just gonna hang out and watch movies.”

“Are you two OK?”

“We’re OK.” He nodded. “To prove that she's trying to be more flexible, she said that we could do whatever I wanted for Halloween. She said no to football though, not even NCAA. So we’re just going to do pizza and scary movies. I have _Halloween_ ; Tina will pick another. She should get here around 6:30 and her brother is gonna pick her up at midnight after he's done with his party. Jason said it was OK.”

“Well Jason, Hotch, Megan, and I are going to a party later in the evening.”

“I know.” 

“Will you keep an eye on Spencer and Ashley after the Boys and Girls Club party?” Emily asked. “They’ll be in bed so it won't be a lot of work.”

“Sure, I don’t mind. Could you just lay out some ground rules with the young people around here?” Morgan asked. “I know the den is public domain but Tina and I aren’t allowed to hang out in my room. I would like a little personal time.”

“Lights on.” Emily said.

“No funny stuff, but you cannot watch scary movies with all the lights on.”

“We’ll talk about it when I get back. Did you give Jason your dinner order?’

“Oh yeah.” Derek nodded.

“OK, see you later.”

“Bye.”

Emily ran out of the house, down the front steps, and into the waiting Woody. She smiled as she buckled her seatbelt. Jason put on the windshield wipers before pulling out of the parking space by their house.

“I'm sorry for the delay guys. There was something I had to take care of.”

“Emily, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to find material for my Supergirl costume at the Wal-Mart.” Penelope said.

“We’ll look as hard as we can. They do sell material there even if it’s not as plentiful as the material store we usually go to. You’re going to be Supergirl no matter what. We’ll do what we have to.”

“My outfit is almost done. It's gonna be so awesome. Kevin was gonna be Superman but in the end he didn’t feel confident wearing the spandex. I told him that the baby fat will disappear soon and he’ll never have to worry about it again. He just has to stay on his skateboard and be active.”

“That’s a good philosophy to have Penelope.” Jason said. “Not everyone is meant to look the same. Kevin may have his baby fat a little longer than some other boys his age but it’s OK.”

“Totally.” Penelope nodded. “You’ve got to love and be yourself no matter what. Right Emily?”

“That’s right.” Emily nodded. “The best thing about everyone being different is that we get to learn all kinds of amazing things from and about each other.”

“Like how Spencer is really, really smart so he can tell me all those stories?” Ashley asked.

“Exactly.” Jason replied.

“Emily?”

“Yeah kiddo?”

“Are you sure they're going to have my costume there?” Ashley asked. “I wanna be a real dinosaur, not a lame one.”

“Let’s hope so. You should probably have a second choice just in case. Think about it for a while…there will be a million costumes there.”

“Not literally a million.” Spencer said. “I bet there will be about 50 or so though.”

“50 is nowhere near a million.” Ashley said.

“I know, but it’s a saying that grownups use.” Spencer shrugged. “Don’t ask me because I don’t know why they use it.”

“Emily isn’t a grownup, Spencer.”

“She's older than us. She's allowed to say it.”

“Hmm,” Ashley seemed to be thinking hard about that.

Emily looked at her in the rearview mirror and smiled. Then she looked at Jason. Everyday was an adventure with these guys. Even the insane days where Emily thought she might cry herself to sleep from the exhaustion and pressure. It wasn’t always supposed to be easy but at least it was an adventure.

“When I'm as old as you Emily, do I get to be a grownup?” Ashley asked.

“I promise we’ll discuss it when you get there.”

***

“Knock, knock.”

“Come in.” Hotch recognized Emily’s voice on the other side of his nearly closed door. He was sitting in his room reading and listening to some music. It would be nice to have a little company.

“What are you doing in here all by yourself?” Emily asked when she walked in.

“You're not going to get mad at me if I tell you?” he countered.

“No,” she shook her head. “Why would I do that?”

“What's all that you’ve got?” Hotch decided to go with his question first.

“Well you’ve been hiding out up here all night so I decided to bring you a surprise. We made S’Mores and hot chocolate.”

“S’Mores?” he couldn’t even hide his happiness. Hotch loved S’Mores.

“If you don’t want it…”

“Get over here you.” he got up off the bed, walking over and taking the tray from her. There was a plate with four S’Mores on it and two cups of steaming hot chocolate. There were marshmallows floating at the top of the cup. This was definitely a nice before bedtime snack.

“So you gonna tell me what you were doing now?” Emily sat Indian style on his bed with the tray between them.

“Well…it might only be a chance in hell but I'm going to apply to Columbia.”

“Columbia University?”

“Yeah.” he nodded. “I know its Ivy League and I doubt I could even…”

“Don’t be silly Hotch, you have amazing grades. You're going to kick ass on the SAT in a few weeks. You have extra-curricular activities and a part-time job to add to your transcript. You're the poster boy for Ivy League success.”

“I don’t think I am.” He shook his head. “How many of these S’Mores do I get to eat?”

“You can have three. I bet Columbia would be happy to have you.”

“I'm still going to apply to Fordham and Pace just in case it doesn’t work out. Megan really is leaning toward Barnard as her first choice though there's a part of her that really, really wants to go to Smith as well.”

“If Megan can get into Barnard than you can get into Columbia.” Emily reasoned. “They’re brother and sister schools.”

“OK say I do get in, which would be a minor miracle. How on earth could I ever afford it? It’s like $30,000 a year. I have a little trust for college but it probably wouldn’t cover more than two years of tuition there. And we haven’t even discussed books and dorm space yet. It’s a dream.”

“You never have to worry about money for school Hotch.” Emily blew on her hot chocolate and drank some. She licked out her tongue trying to reach the marshmallow on the tip of her nose. Jason would've kissed it off…Hotch handed her a napkin.

“I lie in bed and worry about it all the time.”

“Well I'm telling you to stop.”

“Em…”

“We’re rich, remember? I know we don’t talk about it a lot and we don’t have to but you never have to worry about anything. Anything you need for school you're going to have.”

“I don’t want…”

“Lalalala,” Emily put her fingers in her ears. “I'm not listening to you. Lalalala.”

“Emily…”

“Stop.”

He actually did. Hotch smiled and his dimples came out of their hiding place. He didn’t talk to Emily a lot about her inheritance. He didn’t know how much money it was but considering how much her bastard dead Uncle left her, it had to be huge. Paying for four years of an Ivy League school would probably be a drop in the bucket. 

That didn’t mean Hotch wanted to be a burden. He couldn’t quite figure out why he would feel like a burden, they were family. They were twins as a matter of fact. Still, something about it didn’t feel right to him. One thing he knew after two years was that none of that mattered to Emily. She would take care of the people she loved…end of sentence.

“I’ll pay you back every dime.” He said, not sure what else to say.

“OK.” Emily nodded.

She knew how Aaron was. She would never be able to put money in his hand. It was just how he was, even if it drove his twin crazy. So Emily rolled with Hotch’s punches…knew him better than almost anyone. It didn’t matter how stubborn he was, she would make sure he got his education. If he wanted to go Ivy League, Emily would rather have acceptance letters keep him up at night than money.

“So that’s what’s had you worried tonight?” Emily asked. She began to eat her S’More. Hotch was already halfway through his second.

“It’s just a lot on my mind. I'm OK though.”

“Are you sure?”

“Mmm hmm.” He nodded as he finished off S’More #2.

“What are you going to be for Halloween?”

“Well Megan wants to be Bonnie and Clyde. It’s easier than some of the things I can think of. She’s getting me a hat and machine gun; I already have a suit. What about you?”

“I have a cheerleading uniform.” Emily replied.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.” she nodded.

“Hmm,”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Hotch shook his head.

“Eww.” Emily laughed and punched him.

“I didn’t say anything!” he exclaimed, his hazel eyes widening.

“You're having gross boy thoughts, Aaron Hotchner. I can read your mind.”

“I definitely, definitely hope not.” Hotch mumbled.

They were quiet for a while, munching on snacks and enjoying their cocoa. It wasn’t often they got to enjoy the peace and quiet. Even with the ‘inside voice’ rules, eight people made their fair share of noise. Sitting on Hotch’s bed Emily could actually hear herself breathe. 

Sometimes she hated quiet but tonight it was quite nice. Life had been busy, it was becoming a whirlwind. She just didn’t have time to spend with Hotch like she used to. In the early days, even when he hated her guts, they used to go on their evening walks. Hot, cold, rain, or snow…they took that half hour or so to just brush off the insanity of the day.

“We should start our walks again.” Emily said.

“The winter’s coming.”

“I don’t mind if you don’t.”

“I doubt I’ll have time to do it everyday.” Hotch said.

“Two days a week would be nice. You pick the days; you know your schedule better than I do.”

“Tuesday and Thursday should be OK. We can go after dinner.”

“OK.” Emily hid her smile behind her mug. 

So many things were going to change. Next year they wouldn’t even be living in the same state. Somehow she would have to find a way to deal with that. Right now she wanted to hold on with both hands. The world would have Hotch soon enough.

“It’s getting late.” Hotch said. “The morning is going to come before we know it. I um…I always call Megan before bed.”

“Oh, I’ll get out of you hair.” Emily got up from the bed.

“I'm not rushing you out.”

“Yes you are, but its OK Hotch.”

“To make it up to you, I’ll take the tray downstairs to the kitchen when I get off the phone. Thanks so much for the snack.”

“You're welcome. Are you sure?”

“Mmm hmm; it’s not a problem.” He nodded.

“I'm going to kiss you goodnight now.” Emily said.

“I won't be able to stop you, will I?”

“No.” she smiled, shook her head, and leaned to kiss his cheek. Emily exhaled as she caressed Hotch’s face. “I love you, Aaron.”

“Love you too.” his cheeks colored as he said it.

He picked up the phone as Emily walked out of the room. Morgan’s room across the hall was dark but she poked her head in anyway. With football practice early in the morning it was never a problem getting him into bed. Downstairs she also checked on JJ and Penelope. They were both asleep as well, though Penelope definitely preferred a lamp. 

Her lava lamp ran on a 40 watt bulb but it was still better than darkness. In the dim light she could see Alexander the Great and his new playmate, who Penelope called Pepper because he was gray with a smattering of black and white, were playing in their plastic home. Emily walked right past the bathroom and her room. Spencer and Ashley were asleep in their room, another empty bathroom, and then right into Jason’s room. 

He didn’t hear her bare feet on the carpet, which was strange because the hallway could be creaky. His back was to her; he was sitting at his desk reading for class. One of his windows was cracked and Emily could hear the rain dripping from the sill outside. Smiling, she walked up behind him and started running her fingers through his hair. Jason tilted his head back to look at her.

“I just want to let you know that I'm going to get significantly tipsy this weekend at Jonny’s party and then I'm skipping school on Monday. That might sound horrible but I don’t even care. Zoë and Hotch will get my homework for me.” she put her cocoa mug on the desk beside his textbook. “I'm exhausted and there's two more days before the weekend. I need to rest.”

“You should go to bed now.” Jason took her hand. He kissed it before pulling her onto his lap. “I’ll get up early tomorrow and get Spencer and Ashley ready for school. I know you won't get to sleep in but you won't have to be Super Emily either.”

“Maybe I should get Penelope to make me a cape.”

“Don’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have an active imagination.” He smiled when he said it.

“Naughty, naughty…” Emily kissed him. She kissed him hard, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck. Jason moaned into her mouth and it made Emily tingle. Their lips were close together when she whispered. “If I go to bed now I want you to come with me.”

“I have a test in my 12:30 class tomorrow. My 9:30 was canceled but I’d prefer to read the few chapters and refresh my brain tonight and not in the morning. You can sleep in here if you want.”

“If I want.” She smirked.

Jason smiled and kissed her nose. His heart beat a little faster than usual when he thought about reading late, looking over and seeing Emily asleep in his bed. Maybe if he pushed his schedule around Jason could find a way to stay home with her on Monday. At least they could be together in the morning. They could cocoon under the covers and leave the world outside.

“I need to put on my pajamas.” Emily went to get up from his lap but Jason pulled her back.

“No you don’t.” he whispered in her ear.

“I love you.” she caressed his face.

“I love you too. Now you need to get some sleep. I’ll be there soon.”

Smiling, she got up from his lap. Emily went over to her side of the bed. She quickly took off her jeans and sweater. She slipped between the blankets in her bra, panties, and a pair of purple argyle knee socks. 

She couldn’t wait until Jason joined her. Though the odds are she would be sound asleep when that happened. She really was exhausted. As soon as her head hit the pillow and the warmth engulfed her, Emily felt drowsy happiness.

“Sweet dreams.” Jason said smiling.

“Mmm hmm,” she closed her eyes. Curling up, Emily just let go. It was time for sleep and tonight it would be as close to perfect as Emily and Jason could possibly make it.

***


End file.
